Driving schools packed before test change

The Driver's License Examination Office in Gangnam, southern Seoul, is crowded with driver's license applicants, Monday, before the driving test gets harder in the latter half of this year. / Yonhap

By Chung Hyun-chae

A growing number of people are rushing to driving schools to prepare for the driver's test before the test gets harder.

The move came after the National Police Agency announced on Jan. 27 that it would toughen the requirements on the driver's license application process in the latter half of this year, the first change in five years.

"I recently finished my military service and I am searching for a suitable driving school near my home so I can get a driver's license before the test gets harder," said Oh Kwan-seok, 23, a university student who suspended his education due to his military duty, Thursday.

"Actually I failed the exam once but I didn't care and put off earning the license because I thought I could do it easily anytime if I really set my mind to it. But now I'm a bit in haste," he added.

It was 2011 when the driving test became easier with the aim of enhancing public convenience. However, there have been concerns over the simple test that underprepared drivers cause more accidents, which also lead to increased insurance premiums.

The police said the new test will include courses such as hill starts and parking and the closed course test will be lengthened from the current 50 meters to 300 meters.

With people like Oh desperate to earn their licenses, the schools are enjoying a boom.

"More than 80 people register per day, 20 percent up from the average, besides the flood of phone calls," said an official of a driving school located in Nowon, northern Seoul. "We expect more students within the first half of the year."

But the official said the temporal increase is not entirely good news to the schools, as they expect enrollment to decrease again after the exam gets harder.

"It costs about 100 million won to construct new driving courses under the revised rules," he added.

Those planning to take the driving test also expressed their dissatisfaction with the plan to toughen the exam.

"As a definite date for the revision has yet to be confirmed, it is difficult to set my own plans for this year," said a 20-year-old woman.

Those who cannot apply soon are showing fears of the new test.

"I have no time to go to a driving school, so I will ask my father to teach me how to drive," said a 21-year-old woman in Daejeon. "How difficult will the exam be? I am worried that I will never get my driver's license."

By taking advantage of such worries, illegal advertisements from unlicensed driving schools have appeared, promising to help applicants earn their licenses easily at lower cost. Police asked people not to be misled by those gimmicks.

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